Newly forged media partnership supports over 80 street papers, like The Big Issue, in 34 countries across 6 continents
The International Network of Street Papers (INSP), with its headquarters in Glasgow, actively encourages and supports the setting up of street papers worldwide to create opportunities for people who are homeless and are living in poverty. INSP papers also form a significant global media movement with a combined annual circulation of 32 million copies. INSP’s independent news service project- “The Street News Service” facilitates the sharing of quality copy and pictures between street papers internationally and provides access to news and features from key external partners.Approaching its 100th edition and co-ordinated in Scotland, the “Street News Service” sends targeted weekly feeds to over 200 street paper journalists in 34 countries. Already backed by Reuters, INSP’s news service has now made significant headway by partnering with Inter Press Service, which will offer INSP members weekly copy, free of charge, in several languages including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch and Swedish.

Peter Dhondt, Co-ordinator of Inter Press Service in Brussels explains why they decided to take this step with the Glasgow based organisation: “Inter Press Service is about communication for development, and we think INSP is an ideal partner for that. We are happy to be able to support this great initiative while at the same time reaching a global audience of readers that shows concern for issues we deeply care about as well.”

The “Street News Service” is free of charge for members and is a space where members can download new material every week from a designated website ( www.streetnewsservice.org ). The service aims to encourage the finest standards of INSP street papers around the world, which homeless and disenfranchised vendors are proud to sell.
INSP member papers are delighted with this new partnership forged on their behalf. Clare Harris, Editor of The Big Issue in Scotland says: “We use material from INSP’s news service on a weekly basis to keep track of street paper news from around the world. We often print news from global street papers, including Namibia and Russia, in our own magazine and we also post news and big name interviews from our magazine which other street papers can use for free. I’m very excited about the new relationship with Inter Press Service, as even more street papers will be able to make use of the unique copy in a variety of languages.”

Talking from her Glasgow office, INSP Network Director Lisa Maclean explains why this partnership is important for the global street paper movement: “After our recent annual street paper conference in Poland, our members voiced their desire to develop this key media and communications project of the INSP. We are delighted to be able to offer members the opportunity to receive quality material from an established and like-minded organisation like Inter Press Service and I am particularly happy that members in the Global South, including Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, will benefit from the rich language offering that IPS will provide.”

Supported by significant Scottish and UK- based agencies such as Communities Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Charities Aid Foundation, Scottish Enterprise, Royal Bank of Scotland, The Scottish Executive International Development Fund and Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, INSP is keen to develop its unique global programmes headquartered in Scotland.